Syria has pledged that no harm will come to one of its fiercest critics, Lebanese Druze opposition leader and former warlord Walid Jumblat, newspapers said Monday.

The gesture came as Lebanese opposition parties were preparing for a meeting to draw up a plan of action to protest at Syria’s domination of Lebanon, where it has about 14,000 troops stationed.

Jumblat, whose right hand man was targeted in an assassination bid two months ago, has received death threats and complained at the weekend that security barriers had been removed from around his Beirut home.

General Rustom Ghazaleh, the head of Syria’s military intelligence services in Lebanon, telephoned Jumblat at the weekend to assure him about his safety, according to aides.

“Damascus will not allow any risk to his safety or any harm to come to him, his family or his entourage because of his political stance,” Ghazaleh was quoted as saying in As-Safir newspaper.

Jumblat, a former Lebanese warlord who is highly critical of Syria’s role in Lebanon, had taken steps to boost security after the failed October 1 bid on the life of his top aide Marwan Hamadeh.

But on Friday, iron security poles were removed from roads leading to his home.

“I don’t know who took this decision. If anything were to happen to me, it would be very bad for all those in charge of security in Lebanon,” Jumblat was quoted as saying by the French-language L’Orient Le Jour.

The weekend telephone conversation was the first contact between Jumblat and Syria since he opposed a constitutional amendment approved in September giving pro-Damascus President Emile Lahoud an extended term. (With AFP)